dence, and which he described on the basis of reports 
from other persons. 
The Ecuadorian Jesuit, Juan de Velasco, describing 
the naranjlla in 1789, adds nothing new or notable but 
reports that the leaf is ‘‘broad, rough and somewhat spi- 
nous’’ (Velasco, 1927, I, 73-74). 
The last two records refer to the interandean equinoc- 
tial area from Loja to Popayan. The next two concern 
the Amazon slope. 
The Jesuit, Jean Magnin (1740), includes naranjas and 
naranjillas without explanation amongst the cultivated 
fruits of the Province of Maynas (Magnin, 1940, 156). 
During the decade of 1760, the Majorcan missionary, 
Fr. Juan de Santa Gertrudis Serra, lived and worked in 
the upper part of the Putumayo and Caqueta Rivers. 
Speaking of the former mission at Santa Rosa de Caqueta, 
he said: ‘‘There is in Santa Rosa an orchard with its 
fence; inside it, the third part is planted to naranjillas. 
This is a bush of a man’s height, with big leaves, similar 
to those of egg-plant. But above the leaves have spines, 
thick and long as a half pin, 15 to 20 on every leaf. It 
bears fruit at the middle of the plant. Perhaps its resem- 
blance to the orange is why it is called naranjllas. They 
are half the size of oranges and covered with tiny, very 
thin and pointed spines, so thickly crowded that the fruit 
looks like velvet. When the fruits ripen, the spines de- 
cay, and the naranjilla assumes a very deep scarlet color. 
The rind is very thin and inside there is no pip. It is like 
an orange without sections, being entirely a pulp. The 
color is between green and orange-colored, and the taste 
bitter-sweet, very appetitious. The fruit is very fresh to 
the body, and diluted some of them in water with sugar, 
makes a refreshing drink of which I may say that it is 
the most delicious that I have tasted in the world”’ 
(Serra, 1956, I, 148-149).° 
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